Punching machine



Dec. 5, 1933. A. H. ADAMS 1,937,49fi

PUNCHING MACHINE H. I v

Dec. 5, 1933. A ADAMS 1,937,499

PUNCHING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet Filed Aug. 8, 1930 2 INVENTOR BY a? ,%a a ATTZRNEY5 Dec. 5, 1933. A. H. ADAMS PUNCHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 1930 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 m m! v D66. 5, A H. ADAMS PUNCHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 8, 1930 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 a :NVVKE INTEZ NEYS Dec. 5, 1933. A ADAMS 1,937,499

PUNCHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 8, 1930 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 gag/4.

ATTOR EY;

Dec. 5, 1933. A. H. ADAMS 1,937,499

PUNCHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 8, 1950 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 gay/j a 1:v%'r% 2 BY 1 I,

ATTOR YS Patented Dec. 5, 1933 1,937,499 PUNCHING momma Arthur H. Adams, Yonkers, N. -Y., assignor to General Cable Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application August '8, 1930. Serial No.'47s,917

11 Claims. (01. 164 99) This invention relates to a punching or slotting machine and more particularly to a machine for slotting elongated strip material such, for example, as metallic tape or the like.

An object of this invention is to provide a ma chine of the type set forth constructed and arranged to operate continuously upon elongated strip material.

This and other objects which will be apparent to those skilled in this particular art are obtained by means of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side view in elevation of a machine constructed in accordance with one embodiment of this invention.

Fig.2 is a similar view taken from the left of Fig. 1. I

Fig. 3 is an elevation taken from the right of Fig. 4 is a top plan view.

Fig. 5 is a partial sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the machine showing the arrangement of the die rollers.

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation taken from the right of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view showing the driving gears for the various rollers.

Fig. .8 is a sectional view showing the eccentric mounting. for one of the ironing rollers.

Fig. 9'is a transverse sectional view on the line Of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged section through the per-.

forating or slotting rollers.

Fig. 11 is a similar view to still larger scale through a portion of the rollers illustrating the slotting operation.

Fig. 12 is a transverse section through the punch and die rolls.

Fig. 13 is an elevation of mechanism shown in Fig. 12. 1

Fig. 14 is a vertical sectional view through the take-up reel.

the tape stripping Fig. 15 is .a sectional view of the mechanism tinuously upon the tape and. at a relatively high speed. The punch roller is operated by the movement of the tape itself through the dies in contact therewith, and suitable mechanism is employed for drawing the tape past the rotary punching die and collecting the punchedmaterial upon a take-up reel the latter being -operated by mechanism having certain novelfeatures. The die rollers are ofenovel construction and capable of operatingat comparatively high speed.

The illustrated macfne has a punching roll 20 provided with a plurality of metal punchesor teeth 21 positioned thereon in circumferential v rows and supported upon a shaft 22 freely rotat-- ablein suitable bearings ina housing 23 slidably mounted ona supportinggbase 24 and, adjustable thereon through the medium of an adjusting thumb screw 25 for shifting the housing 7 upon the supporting base; :Suitable clamping nuts 26 of standard form'are employed for clamping the housing 23 and punching roll in the deg shaft 28 positioned in the base 24 and is formed with a plurality of circumferential grooves 29' adapted to receive the punch teeth 21 during the punching operation, the die roll 27 forming a-sup- V port for the tape 30 during-the punching thereof.

A pair of feed rolls 31 are supported upon feed roll shafts 32in the housing 24 .and are so positioned as to engage the perforated tape after it has passed through the punch dies. Therolls 31 engage the tape with suflicient pressure to draw the same through'the punching dies and around the punching roll 20, the latterbeing rotated by the movement of the tape resulting from operation of the feed rolls 31. The latter are operated from a power shaft 33 driven by any suitable source of powersuch as an electric motor 34. A helical gear 35 onthe power shaft 33 sired position. A die roller 27 is se cured'toa drives a similar gear 36. secured to. the lower feed roll shaft .32 geared to the upper feed roll shaft by suitable gears 37 so that the feedrolls; 32 operate to draw the tape 30' from asupply-roll 38 over "the die roll 27,- between the die roll and the punching roll 20, around the punching roll 20 through the feed rolls and. deliver, it to a I take-up mechanism hereinafter described. V The upper feed roll gear 37 drives a gear .39 on the die roll shaft 28 through a suitable idler gear 40, and the pitch diameters of the respective-gears are such that the die roll 27 isdrivenat: a peripheral speed that exceedsslightlylthespeed of" travel ofthe tape 30 and hence the peripheral speedof" the punching roller 20. aresultof 111'0 in effect, a cutting die it will in time become dull,

" the entire circumference of the die roller 27.

sures removal of the slugs by the slug removing comb hereinafter described. The, die roll being,

necessitating regrinding. Such regrinding will reduce its diameter and therefore its peripheral speed. Should this peripheral'speed ever become less than the speed of travel of the tape, which is determined bythe speed ofthe feed rolls, it would produce a very undesirable drag upon the tape, somewhat in the manner of. a

brake drum. However, by driving the die roll at a greater speed than the speed of travel of 42 rotatably positioned in the housing 24.

the tape, the above undesirable possibilities are forestalled. Also, positively driving the die roll 2'7, material assistance is given to the feed rolls in drawing the tape oil? the supply reel, and rotation of the die roller, and the resulting punching operation is also aided. r

The feed rolls 31 preferably perform the additional function of ironing or burnishing the slotted tape. The upper roll shaft 32 is mounted in bearings 41 located in an eccentric bearing support An arm 43 is connected to the eccentric support 42 and is drawn downwardly by a suitable spring 44 so as to press the upper feed roll 31 yieldingly downward to produce an ironing pressure of the feed rolls upon the tape. v

' A pronged stripper plate 45, see Figs. 12 and V '13, is located-below the punch roll and has its any reason. Y

prongs or fingers 46- positioned so as to'strip'the punched tape fromthe roll and direct it to the feed rolls. "In order 'to remove any punchings which may cling to the tape due to not beingcut clear, a scraper 47 is provided for scraping the surface of'the tape as it is stripped from the punch roll. The scraper may be formed from one or more flat pieces of spring steel bent to form, and so positioned as to' bear yieldingly against the surface of the tape. The scrappers are'preferably of gooseneck formation so that they will spring away from thetape and not dig in, should they catch upon the tape surface for The punched slugs 48 which are deposited in the slots of the die roll 27 are removed by a suitable'comb 49 or the like which removes the slugs from the grooves upon rotation of the roll Positive rotainsures removal of the slugs by the comb.

'It will be apparent that the grooved die roll 27 provides an ever changing die surface which supports the tapebeing punched at the sides only of the slots which are formed therein, the

slotted portion being unsupported during the punchingoperation at the ends of the slots.

In View of the fact that the two die rolls are 7 rotated at different peripheral speeds, it is important to position them so that the punching roll does not press the tape tightly against the die 'roll' '27, so as to avoid friction loss and possible distortion'ofthe tapet the same time, as in v any punching operation, the tape should be quite adjacent teeth. will be apparent that the punch rings can be mits the proper positioning of the two rolls relatively to each other and renders it possible to obtain a close confinement of the tape between the rolls without undue pressure; Relative lateral movement of the die rolls is prevented by annular flanges 51 formed preferably on" the punch roll which engage'shoulders 52 on the die roll, see Figs. 10 and 11.

, As most clearly illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11, the die roll 2'7 is built up of a plurality of discs 53 separated by spacers 54, the assembly being clamped on a support 55 secured to the shaft 28. The diameter of the spacers 54 is such, in comparison to the diameter of the discs 53, as to provide the necessary circumferential slots 29 of sufficient depth to accommodate the punch teeth 21 of the roller punching die and the punched slugs 48 from the tape. The punch roller is built up by a plurality of discs 56 separated by spacers 5'! which are of such diameter relatively to the discs 56 as to provide a series of circumferential grooves 58 in which'the annular punch,

be easily stampedor otherwise formed from suit A able sheet material and ispreferably provided with an odd number'of cutting teeth 21. Diametrically opposed holes 60 are formed in each punch ring, one hole being positioned opposite a tooth and the other hole opposite a space-between With such an arrangement, it

mounted upon the punch roll so that'the' teeth of one ring are staggered with relation to the teeth of the adjacent rings, as more or less dia' grammatically illustrated in Figs. 3 and 6. Suitable blocking pins 61 are employed for locking the parts together against'relative circumferential movement. In order to provide for possible variations in the thickness of the punch'rings 59 to the thickest of the punch rings'59. As aresult, the latter may have a very small lateral play in the grooves 58, depending upon their thickness, and thus automatically adjust or cen than the prong at the following end of each cutting edge. This produces piercing at the ends of each slot first and this shape of tooth is also beneficial in enabling the tape to'be stripped from the teeth without stretching or tearing.

. From the ironing rolls or feed rolls 31, the perforated tape is delivered to. a suitable take-up mechanism which is of such construction. that the take-up reel is rotated in 'a manner to main tain the tape under a substantially constant ten sion. As illustrated, the tape passes around an idler 61 before being delivered "to the take-up reel 62. The reel issupported upon a drive shaft 63 driven from the power shaft 33 through suitable gearing 64. A band type driving clutch drum 65 is secured to the reel shaft63 and the reel itself .is I mounted upon 'a roll supporting 7 member 65 supported on a bearing 67 so as to be freely rotatable with relationto the shaft 63. A pin 68 mounted in the lower face ofthe reel support 66 extends downwardly through a slot 69 in an intermediate control drum 70-and'has its lower end connected to one end of a clutch the spacers 5,7 and discs 56 are very accurately sized, and the spacers 57 are equal in thickness The prong or point at the lead- -ing end of each toothis lower, ormay be lower,

one end to a pin 74 mounted on the machine frame, see Fig. 15, and at its other end to one arm of a lever 75 pivoted at 76 to the'machine frame and supporting on its other arm the idler roller 61'. A spring 77 tends to draw the lever. into brake releasing position while any increased tension on the tape tends to swing the lever so as to apply the brake band 73.

The operation of the take-up mechanism is such that the speed of rotation of the reel is 'deis secured to the operating shaft, and this frictional engagement is varied by the position of the intermediate control drum '70 with relation to the pin 68. The position of the drum is in turn a function of the tension of the tape which operates through the lever arm to 'control the pressure of the brake band '73 on the drum '70 and thus to so control the position of the drum 70 relatively to the pin 68 as to maintain the necessary frictional engagement of the clutch band '71 upon the driving clutch drum 65 to produce such a rotation of the take-up reel as will maintain a substantially constant tension upon the perforated tape.

A hand wheel '78 is preferably provided upon the roller die supporting shaft 22 so that the end of the tape 30 can be properly threaded through the opening between the dies and around the roller die into engagement with the feed rolls 31. The proper position of the punching roller relatively to the die roller 27 is obtained by suitable manipulation of the adjusting thumb nut 25 after which the parts are secured in adjusted position by the clamp nuts 26. It may be desirable to provide the power shaft with any of the well-known forms of accelerating devices to produce a gradual acceleration of the machine under the impulseof the driving motor, so as to prevent the machine attaining full speed so rapidly as to break the tape. Operation of the feed rolls and rotation of the die roll 27 draws the tape oil the supply reel, over the die roll, between it and the punch roll, thence around the punch roll which is thereby rotated, past the stripper mechanism and the scraper and through the feed rolls 31 where it is ironed and burnished to finished form. By driving the punching roll 20 through the medium of the tape itself, all necessity for any delicate timing mechanism or adjustment of parts to prevent tearing of the tape by the punch roll is eliminated.

Although I have described a specific embodiment of this invention in more or less detail it will be apparent that various changes, additions, omissions and substitutions may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination in a punching machine for punching metallic tape of a punching member, a slotted die member, means for passing tape between said members and means forrotating said members relatively to each other to provide a fresh supporting surface for said tape durin succeeding punching operations.

2. The combination in a punching ber having slottingpunches provided thereon, a

roller die provided: with a plurality of ciroumfen ential slots for receivingsaid punches and means for rotating said die so that the circumferential speed thereof is greater than thecircumferenti al I speed of the punching member.

3. The combination a punching machine of a rotary punching member having a plurality of punches extending radially the'refrom, a roller "die co-operating therewith and provided with circumferential slots for receiving said punches, a pair of feed rolls for continuously drawing tape between said die and member arranged so that the tape passes partially around said punching member to rotate said member and means for f rotating said roller die at a greater circumferential speed than the speed of travel of said tape. 4. The combination in a punching machine of a rotary punching die arranged to be rotated by movement of the work, a work supporting roller die having circumferential slots co-opera rotary punching die arranged .to be rotated bymovement of the work, a work supporting roller die having circumferential slots co-operating with the punches of said roller die, feed rolls for drawing work between said dies, means for driving said feed rolls and. means connecting said driving means to said roller die for rotating said die at a greater circumferential speed than the circumferential speed of said feed rolls.

6. The combination in a punching machine'of a rotary punching member having a plurality of punches extending radially outward therefrom,

and means for supporting said punches to permit limited movement thereof axiallyof said member. '7. The combination in a machine for punching metallic tape of co-operating-rotary punching i dies, a pair of feed rolls for passingtape through saiddies, a take-up reel, means for rotating said feed rolls and said reel, and means for "controlling the rotation of said reel .so as to maintain-a substantially constant tension onsaid tape; 1

8. The combination in a machine for punching metallic tape of co-operating rotary punching dies, a pair of feed rolls for passing tape through saiddies, a take-up fecl, a powershaft, means 1 for driving said feed rolls from saidpowershaft,

means for driving said take up reel from said 180 power shaft and means responsive to' variations] Y in the tension on said tape for controlling the rotation of said take-up reel so as to maintaina substantiallyconstant tension on. said tape.

9. The combination in a punching machine for continuously operating upon metallic tape in-' cluding a pair of rotary punching dies and means for drawing tape through said dies includinga' take-up reel, a shaft for rotating said reel, a

reel, and means for-controlling said connection flexible connection between said shaft and said including a spring pressed; lever responsive to variationsv in thetensionof the tape.

19. The combination in a punching machine for continuously opera ting upon metallic tape including a pairiof rotary punching dies, means for continuously, drawing tape through said dies including a take-up reel, apower shaft for rotating said reel, a clutch drum secured to said shaft,

a flexible connection between said brake drum andsaid reel including a clutch band co-operating with saiddrum, means forivarying the pres-1 sure of said band on saiddrum including a second drum rotatable with said reel, a brake band for controlling, the operation of said second drum and means for varying the 'eiiect of said brake band by and in accordance with variations in the tension on saidtape. 9 I n 11. The combination in a punching machine of a rotary punching member havinga plurality associated therewith for yieldingly pressing the eccentrically mounted r011 against its associated feed r011. v i ARTHUR H. ADAMS.- 

